1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nebulizer for a fluid with a mouthpiece and at least one air supply opening associated with the mouthpiece, the fluid being sprayable into the mouthpiece and to a mouthpiece for a nebulizer or other inhaler.
2. Description of Related Art
The starting point for the present invention is a nebulizer in the form of an inhaler sold under the trademark RESPIMAT®, which is illustrated in its basic structure in International Patent Application Publication WO 91/14468 A1 (corresponding U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,497,944 and 5,662,271) and in a specific embodiment in FIGS. 6a, 6b of International Patent Application Publication WO 97/12687 A1 (corresponding U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,726,124 and 6,918,547) and in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings of this application. The nebulizer has, as a reservoir for fluid which is to be atomized, an insertable rigid container with an inner bag containing the fluid and a pressure generator with a drive spring for delivering and atomizing the fluid.
To supplement the disclosure of the present application reference is made to the complete disclosure of both WO 91/14468 A1 and WO 97/12687 A1 and their U.S. Patent counterparts indicated above. Generally, the disclosure contained therein preferably relates to a nebulizer with a spring pressure of 5 to 200 MPa, preferably 10 to 100 MPa on the fluid, with a volume of fluid delivered per stroke of 10 to 50 μl, preferably 10 to 20 μl, most preferably about 15 μl. The fluid is converted into an aerosol, the droplets of which have an aerodynamic diameter of up to 20 μm, preferably 3 to 10 μm. Furthermore, the disclosure contained therein preferably relates to a nebulizer of cylindrical shape of about 9 cm to about 15 cm and about 2 cm to about 5 cm wide and with a jet spray angle of 20° to 160°, preferably 80° to 100°. These values also apply to the nebulizer according to the teaching of the present invention as particularly preferred values.
By rotating an actuating member in the form of a lower housing part of the nebulizer, the drive spring can be put under tension and fluid can be drawn up into a pressure chamber of the pressure generator. After manual actuation of a locking element, the fluid in the pressure chamber is put under pressure by the drive spring and expelled through a nozzle into a mouthpiece to form an aerosol, without the use of propellant gas or the like. The speed of the aerosol cloud is very low, with the result that the cloud of aerosol is virtually stationary in the mouthpiece. A user then has to inhale the resulting aerosol slowly for as long as possible, e.g., 10 seconds or more. The mouthpiece has at least one air supply opening through which the user, on inhaling, sucks in air from the atmosphere together with the aerosol produced. This ensures that the air stream of supplied air and aerosol necessary for inhalation is produced and that the volume of aerosol needed for the inhalation process is available.